JoD: Behind the Schemes
by ERiN OPPEL
Summary: A closer look at what REALLY happened during some schemes in Journey of Dreams... Heehee, that rhymes.
1. The Not So Tenatious Ten

_While playing certain missions in NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, I started to wonder how the other Nightmarens got ideas for those schemes. I mean, the gumball machine to block off the roller coaster tracks? Who's idea WAS that?? But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. This fic is just my speculations of how the Nightmarens got their ideas. Oh, and I'm sorry I don't know all the types of minor Nightmarens._

_Note: I do not own the NiGHTS franchise. SEGA does. If you got any problems with that, take it up with them, ok?_

JoD: Behind the Schemes

Prologue: The Not-So Tenatious Ten

"Nightmarens, I summon you." Wizeman's deep voice echoed throughout the castle.

Upon hearing their master's voice, the Nightmarens stopped what they were doing and made their way to Wizeman's throne room. Once inside, they sat down by ranking; Second-Level 'marens in the front row, and minor 'marens in the back row. Since Reala was the only First-Level Nightmaren (and Wizeman's favourite), he stood beside Wizeman. He kept a steady and intimidating gaze over the rest of the Nightmarens.

Wizeman waited until everyone was settled, and then he began, "My Nightmarens, I am sure you have wondered why I called you all here today."

Steve, a Seapo, nudged one of his buddies. "Is he _always_ gonna start these assemblies like that?" he whispered, both amused and annoyed.

His friend, a Shleep named Charles, replied, "Maybe he just likes to play Mr. Know-it-all."

They started snickering, but instantly stopped when Reala casted a glare at them.

Wizeman went on, "Six of the Dream Gate scouts have been killed by Visitors Dualized with NiGHTS, but the seventh and eigth surviving scouts have told me that two Visitors who possess Red Ideya have entered the Night Dimension. Because of NiGHTS, their nightmares are in danger of turning into dreams. I'm sending all of you into their Nightopias to destroy them."

Ralf, an outspoken yet loyal scorpion Nightmaren (I don't know their name), asked in concern, "But Master, what if something happens to us?"

"I don't care!" Wizeman snapped. "Not MY problem. Just do your job and do it right. Or else, you will DIE."

The minor Nightmarens gulped. "Y-yes, Master Wizeman."

Wizeman turned to the Second-Level Nightmarens first. "Each of you will go to a different Nightopia and guard the Ideya that are there. If NiGHTS and the Visitors try to steal them back, well, you know what to do."

The Second-Level Nightmarens nodded. "Yes, Master." Then they left.

Wizeman then instructed Reala, "The boy Visitor is about to enter Pure Valley. You must capture NiGHTS before they can Dualize."

"I will, Master. But what about the girl?"

"She is currently alone in Aqua Garden. You already made an appearance to her, so I suggest not going after her at the moment. Besides, we need to take care of NiGHTS as soon as possible."

Reala nodded. "It shall be done."

"Good. Now go, and take the Goodles with you."

Reala bowed to his master, then snapped his fingers and the three Goodles hopped onto their birds and flew after Reala out of the castle.

Wizeman finally turned his attention to the minor Nightmarens. "Disperse yourselves among the different Nightopias and come up with plans to stop the Visitors. I expect good results from you, as you finally got through your training."

"We had training?" a Deworm called Johnson said.

"GO. _Now._" Wizeman ordered impatiently.

"Yes, Master!" Then the minor Nightmarens left the room.

Wizeman then grumbled to himself, "They don't stand a chance."

While still in the corridor, the minor Nightmarens huddled.

"Since we're gonna die anyway, it won't really matter which one we go after anyway. So who will it be?" Bob, one of the Balloogas, asked.

Fred, a Murtle, suggested, "Dudes! How about the dudette! Yeah, because, like, she's weak and helpless like a dudette should be, huh dudes?"

The others considered this. "Yeah! Just like the stereotypes in the real world!" they agreed.

"I've even heard from one surviving scout that she's a blond, so she's dumb and easy to outsmart!" Steve added.

"Yeah!"

But Bertha, a bird Nightmaren, said, "Hang on, we all can't go. Some of us have to go to the other Nightopias."

"Ooh, I've got it!" Ralf spoke up. "How about there's a group of us who devise the plans for stopping NiGHTS and the Visitors, and the rest of us just infiltrate the Nightopias and attack directly?"

The others agreed and were able to make a group. The group went as follows: Ralf, Steve, Charles, Bob, Fred, Bertha, Ted (a Sparkeel), the Joe Colony (the colony of bees in those hives), Kenny (a Mothpit), and Johnson.

"Aw, why was I listed last?" Johnson whined.

"Stop complaining." Ralf told him. "Be grateful that we even picked you at all." He turned to the rest of the group and announced, "To Crystal Castle we go!"

"Why Crystal Castle?" asked the Joe Colony. "Wizeman said the girl was in Aqua Garden."

Ralf explained, "Aqua Garden's too far away. By the time we get there, the girl will already be in Crystal Castle. We're better off if we go there first."

"Uh, another thing." Ted spoke up. "Didn't Wizeman tell us_ not _to go after the girl right now?"

"He only told that to Reala." Ralf said.

"I HATE that 'maren!" Kenny scowled. "He's so conceited _and_ he's always suckin' up to Wizeman!"

"So that's why we're going to elimitate the girl's Nightopia and maybe we'll be awarded the Second-Level Nightmaren title! Or even First-Level!" reasoned Ralf.

"Yeah!" they all cheered.

_The next chapters will be funnier, I promise. Tell me what you think, please! :D_

_PS: Oh, and if you know the types of minor Nightmarens that I didn't know, please let me know them!_


	2. Jewel Fever

_Sorry it took long to update: I was on a 4-day field trip with my French class. Here's the first chapter. All the events are in chronological order, in case you didn't catch that._

Chapter 1: Jewel Fever

"What took us so long??" Steve complained.

Ralf, who was apparently the leader, responded, "Hey, the Second-Levels are big Nightmarens; they can travel great distances. We're little Nightmarens;--"

"We travelled half a mile." Bob finished bluntly.

Bertha complained, "Not to mention that I had to carry the Joe Colony all the way here."

"...Yeah. Thanks a lot." the Joe Colony muttered, sick with airsickness. Their hive was then attached to a tree branch.

"Now what, Ralf?" Charles asked.

Ralf began, "Obviously we...uh...well, we can always...um..." But he trailed off uncertainly.

"Hey, guys, look!" Johnson said in excitement and pointed at something. "This is a volcano!"

The others groaned and Fred muttered, "Thanks for sharing, Dude Obvious."

"You're welcome!" Johnson smiled.

Ralf then looked around and realized, "Hey, if everything is made out of glass here, then how about we try shattering it all?"

"...Nah, it'll take too long." the others said.

"Ok...then how about we plant bombs everywhere and explode everything?"

"...Nah, too quick."

Ralf snapped impatiently, "Well somebody think of SOMETHING!"

"VOLCANO!"

"SHUT UP, JOHNSON!" They all started to beat up the Deworm, but their fight turned into a brawl and everyone was against each other. This went on for a while, until the volcano started to rumble.

"Hey, guys, what's that noise?" Bertha asked.

"It is the volcano!" Johnson yelled, pointing at it.

Ted turned to him and asked, "Seriously, why do you like saying 'volcano' all the time?"

Johnson replied with a grin, "Oh I don't know, I just thought it was funny."

The volcano's rumbling got even louder and the ground started to shake. The Nightmarens yelped in fright.

"What are we gonna do??" Kenny asked, looking around frantically.

A shriek came from Bertha, who announced, "NiGHTS is here! We gotta get outta here before NiGHTS and the Visitor see us!"

"Then let's go!" Ralf darted away, followed by the others.

"HEY! WHAT ABOUT US?!" the Joe Colony shouted. Their hive looked like it was about to fall off the branch.

Bertha quickly came back and grabbed the hive in her talons, then flew after the other Nightmarens.

---

The ten minor Nightmarens cowered in front of Wizeman's glaring hands.

Finally, Wizeman spoke, "So tell me, insignificant fools, why did you go after the girl when I told you not to?"

Ralf gulped. "I thought you were only talking to Reala when you said that."

Wizeman groaned. "Just because I was talking to Reala doesn't mean that I wasn't addressing you as well!"

"Then why were you talking to him only?"

"I like him more than you."

Reala, who was standing beside Wizeman, smirked at the others.

Kenny growled under his breath, "Told ya I hate him..."

Wizeman went on, "And to think you angered Jewel Mountain, but didn't collect any of the jewels!"

"There were jewels?" Ralf asked, puzzled.

Johnson laughed. "Ha! Now _you're_ the stupid one!" He was smacked by Ted. "Yeow!"

"Before you do anything else, you will feed Cerberus." Wizeman said.

"C-Cerberus?!"

Wizeman then ordered, "Once you have finished, go after the boy Visitor. He should still be in Lost Park."

The ten 'marens gulped and nodded. "Yes, Master."

Then Reala asked, "What shall I do, Master?"

"I need you to do something special for me. The rest of you..." Wizeman glanced at the minor 'marens. "Get out."

The minor Nightmarens left Wizeman's throne room.

"...Now what, dudes?" Fred asked.

"What do you mean, 'now what'? We go to Lost Park, that's what!" Ralf said. He was still a little embarrassed that he didn't know about the jewels in Crystal Castle.

"But didn't Wizeman tell us we have to feed Cerberus?" Bertha asked with worry.

The others sighed. "Oh yeah."

Ralf encouraged, "I'm sure it'll be a piece of burrito! All we gotta do is show Cerberus who's boss!" This seemed to give the others confidence.

Reala exited Wizeman's room and as he drifted past the others, he snickered, "Suckers."

Kenny was fuming. "Why I oughta--" He was about to go after Reala, but the others pulled him back.

"Save your energy for when you really need it." Ralf told him. "You'll have your chance later. Right now, there's a big and hungry doggy that needs feeding."

_Uh oh, I don't like the looks of this..._


	3. Bomb Panic

_This is gonna be a short FanFic, just to let you know._

Chapter 2: Bomb Panic

The ten minor Nightmarens dashed out of Cerberus' lair and shut the door quickly. After they locked all the locks on it, they let out relieved sighs. Cerberus, however, continued to bark and bang on the door for a minute before going to eat his meal.

"Phew!" Steve panted, wiping the drool and sweat off his face with his fin. "That was close."

"Super close, dudes." commented Fred, glancing at a chip in his shell made by Cerberus' teeth. Bertha frowned at some missing tail feathers, also the fault of Cerberus' snapping jaws.

After they caught their breaths, Ralf spoke up, "It's about time we get to Lost Park."

"But if it's lost, how will we find it?" Johnson wondered.

Ralf looked like he was about to reply, but he suddenly hesitated, looking confused. He put a claw on his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm..." He then figured, "Hey, if Chamelan could do it, how hard can it be?"

---

Steve, Charles, Bertha, the Joe Colony, Ted, Bob, Fred, Kenny, and Johnson all glared at Ralf.

"What?" asked Ralf innocently.

"You said, 'Hey, if Chamelan could do it, how hard can it be?'! Remember? You said that?" Steve reminded.

"Well, I..."

"And it took us practically FOREVER to get here!"

"Wait a minute!" Ted spoke up. "I just realized something!"

"What?" the others asked.

"If the Jewel Fever mission was the girl's mission _before_ her second battle with Bomamba..."

"Yeah?"

"And if her mission _before_ Jewel Fever was to guide the boy through the castle..."

"Yeah?"

"And if the boy had gotten into the castle _before_ his Chase Mission/first Chamelan battle in Lost Park..."

"Yeah?"

"And if we spent some time feeding Cerberus _before_ the boy's second mission..."

"Yeah?"

"...Wait, what am I getting at here?"

The other Nightmarens groaned and collapsed on the ground.

"Great! We wasted 9 lines of you trying to bring up an impossibility! And we _still_ haven't done anything worthwhile!" Ralf sneered.

"But there could be a paradox here!" Ted reasoned.

"So? Paradoxes exist here all the time! It's not like this is the real world or anything."

"Oh yeah, I forgot!" laughed the electric eel Nightmaren.

"Sheesh..." Ralf mumbled. He looked around and noticed the giant tree. "Hey, look at that! It's a giant beanstalk!"

"Ooooh!" the others awed.

Johnson then suggested, "Hey, why don't we climb up it and see if the giant's home?"

"Ok!"

---

(Ralf) "..."

(Steve) "..."

(Charles) "..."

(Ted) "..."

(Fred) "..."

(Bertha) "..."

(Bob) "..."

(Kenny) "..."

(Joe Colony) "..."

(Johnson) "...Oh well. Nothing's here."

The ten Nightmarens sighed disappointedly.

Bob grumbled, "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Buy souvenirs?" Johnson suggested, pointing to a store that was also at the top of the tree.

"Ok!" the others agreed. They went inside the store and there they met the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper greeted them with, "Lamp oil, rope, bombs- it's yours, my friends, as long as you've got enough Rupees."

"We don't have any Rupees!" Ralf realized. "We don't even know what those are!"

"Mmm..." The shopkeeper scratched his butt thoughtfully.

"Ok, we'll just steal everything you have!" Ralf said. He and the other Nightmarens ransacked the shop and left, but they still remained on top of the tree.

Kenny then noticed a problem. "Uh, how do we get down?" (Guess they forgot that they could fly.)

The others looked cautiously over the edge at the water far below. "Hmm. Will we be able to survive the fall?" Charles wonder aloud.

"I dunno. Let's see." Ralf pushed Johnson off the tree.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He landed in the water with a quiet splash.

"Oooh, that one hurt 'im." Fred commented in amusement.

After a few seconds, Johnson came up to the surface. "I'm ok! I'm alright!" he called up to the others.

"Awww!" they groaned. "Shoot, he's still alive!"

"Hey, throw one of those bombs at him." Steve said sneakily.

Ralf took out a bomb from the sack and dropped it down at Johnson.

Johnson saw it coming. "AAH!" He moved out of the way just in time. "Hey, watch it! You almost hit me with that!"

"Darn, I missed!" Ralf threw down more bombs.

"Yikes!" Johnson managed to dodge them all. "Careful with those! What are you trying to do, kill me?"

"Here, Ralf, we'll help you." Charles said. He and the others started throwing all the bombs into the water.

The Joe Colony then yelled, "NiGHTS and the Visitor are here!"

Ralf then got an idea. "Yes! This is perfect!" To Johnson, he called, "Johnson! Get up here but don't let NiGHTS see you! We're gonna blow the beanstalk to Timbucktoo! Don't worry, we promise we won't throw any bombs at you!"

"Ok! I'm coming up!" Johnson started to climb up the tree. "Where's Timbucktoo?" Then the other Nightmarens threw the rest of the bombs at him, causing him to fall back in the water so that he wouldn't get hit. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Once all the bombs were in the water, Ralf and the others waited.

"What are we waiting for?" Kenny asked.

"For the bombs to explode." Ralf replied.

Bertha then asked, "So what's taking them so long?"

"Hmm..." Ralf looked over the edge again. "I dunno. Johnson should have been killed by now. Oh, and the beanstalk too."

Ted reached in the sack with his tail and pulled out a remote. "Hey, what's this thing do?"

Ralf took the remote and examined it. "It says 'Remote Bomb Detonator'. ...Ohhhh, it's for the bombs!"

"Ohhhhhh!"

Ralf pushed the big red button on the remote...but nothing happened. "Hm? I thought I pushed the button." He tried again. Still nothing. "Hmmm." He continued pressing the button rapidly, but the only thing that happened was the button springing off.

Then Johnson reached the top, panting. "Whew! What a climb. So, how'd it go? Did the plan work?"

The others were so angry that in response, they pushed Johnson off again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Splash. When Johnson resurfaced, they heared him shout, "Hey! Who destroyed all the bombs?!"

The others were silent for a moment, realizing that NiGHTS must have destroyed the bombs before they could be detonated. "Not good!"

_Hee hee! Everybody hates Johnson. And I don't know if you realized this, but even if their plan had worked, they would've been blown to bits too because they were still on the tree when they tried to explode it. Yeah, they're pretty dense. So, how was this chapter?_


	4. Coaster Rescue

_If you thought the last chapter was weird, wait'll you read THIS._

Chapter 3: Coaster Rescue

"QUICK! SHUT THE DOOR SHUT THE DOOR!"

Ted just managed to slip through the space in the door of Cerberus' lair before the others closed it and locked it. They heard Cerberus' heads collide with the door and growl before walking away.

They all sighed and relaxed.

"I can't believe Wizeman made us walk Cerberus." grumbled Bob.

"Well, it was our punishment for failing our last plan." said the Joe Colony. "And I think Wizeman said that if we fail again, we'll have to give Cerberus a bath."

Charles gulped.

Ralf turned to Ted. "Did you remember to grab the leash?"

Ted froze. "...Oh...Oops."

"TED!"

"Sorry! I didn't think it mattered if we brought it back to Wizeman!"

"_Everything_ matters to Wizeman." Ralf told him sternly.

"'Cept us." Bob pointed out grimly.

Ralf, noticing how dejected the others looked, said, "So that's why we're gonna come up with a new plan so that Wizeman will think highly of us! We'll be First-Level Nightmarens in no time!"

---

The group of ten unlucky Nightmarens were sitting by the roller coaster track, wondering what their next plan should be.

While they were thinking, a roller coaster carrying Nightopians went by them. This gave Ralf an idea. "Hey, guys!"

The others looked up. "Hmm?"

"Maybe we can destroy NiGHTS in a different way. Like, instead of attacking directly, we can attack her heart!"

"How?" Bertha asked.

Ralf pointed a claw at the Nightopians. "If we can kill the Nightopians, NiGHTS will be so devestated that she won't have the emotional strength to fight back!"

But Kenny shook his head. "Nah, she doesn't love Nightopians enough to do that. We should kill something that's REALLY close to her heart. Like Reala!"

The others groaned and Fred said, "You only want to kill Reala because you hate him."

Kenny's large bug-eyes shifted back and forth misceiviously. "No...My imaginary friend hates him too."

"All right, nobody listen to Kenny." Ralf told his companions. "We're killing the 'pians and that's that."

"Great!" Charles agreed. "So how do we do it?"

Ralf pondered, then replied, "The Nightopians will get killed if we crash their roller coaster into something...so we need to find something to block off the tracks."

"Let's use Johnson!" Steve suggested.

"Yeah!" the others except for Johnson cheered.

Then Ted frowned. "Aw, he's not big enough."

"Awwwww!"

"Yay!" Johnson chimed happily.

"We need something big and strong." Ralf looked around. "Um...the giant statue of the camel?"

"Yeah, and how are we supposed to bring _that_ over here?" Bob asked dryly.

"Ok, scratch that." Ralf thought about it some more.

"Hurry! The roller coaster is on it's way here again!" the Joe Colony warned.

"Uh..." Ralf looked around frantically. "Uh..." Finally, because he couldn't think of anything else, he blurted out, "The gumball machine!" He and the others started to carry the giant gumball machine over to the track. "Put it down gently but quickly." he told the others.

But they just dropped it on the tracks and some giant gumballs fell out.

"You idiots! I said _gently_ but quickly!" Ralf growled.

"All we heard was 'quickly'!"

"Who cares? The coaster's coming!" screeched Bertha.

"Let's hide!" said Ralf as he ducked behind a boulder. The others followed him. "Any second now..." he said quietly.

Charles peeked out from behind the boulder and whispered, "Here it comes!"

Indeed, the minor Nightmarens could hear the roller coaster approaching the blockade of gumballs. They waited excitedly for the big crash that was soon to ensue...but it never came. In fact, the sound of the car on the tracks had stopped suddenly.

Confused, Ralf crawled on top of the boulder and looked at the track. The gumball machine and the gumballs were still in their places, but the _empty_ roller coaster car was parked a few feet before the gumballs! "WHAT?! How did this happen??"

The others came out of their hiding spot and groaned. "Aww, so close!"

Ralf clenched his claws, angry that yet another plan had failed. "All right, whose idea was this?? Johnson! Was it yours?"

Ted replied, "Um, actually, I think it was yours, Ralf."

But Ralf shook his head. "Nu-uh! No way would I come up with a stupid plan like this!"

But the bees of the Joe Colony insisted, "We remember it was your idea!"

Ralf tried coming up with an excuse, but all the others were glaring at him, so he just dismissed it with, "Ok, it doesn't matter whose idea it was. But Chamelan should be able to finish NiGHTS and the boy Visitor off, no problem!"

The others thought that that was possible so they weren't too disappointed by their failure.

"So. What do we do now?" Bob sighed pessimistically.

"We could kill Reala and--"

"_No_, Kenny."

Ralf sighed. "Let's just go back to Wizeman and tell him what happened."

---

"...Gumballs?"

Ralf chuckled slightly. "Well, see, I thought--"

"You obviously didn't!" Wizeman growled. "All of your plans have failed, so far. What's even worse is that Chamelan has been defeated by NiGHTS and the Visitor."

All the minor Nightmarens glared at Ralf.

"What?" Ralf said nervously, trying to sound innocent.

"By now, the boy Visitor is heading towards Delight City. I have already sent Reala there to capture NiGHTS, but I'll give you one last chance to prove yourselves worthy." Wizeman told them. "Remember, THIS is your LAST CHANCE."

Ralf saluted his master. "Don't worry! We won't let you down!"

"But FIRST!" Wizeman spoke up sternly. "Go play fetch with Cerberus. He needs the excercise."

Then the minor Nightmarens left the throne room. "We're gonna die."

_Will they? Or will their last plan actually work? Please review._


	5. Neon City Battle

_I got a feeling something bad is gonna happen in this chapter..._

Chapter 4: Neon City Battle

The minor Nightmarens dragged themselves into Wizeman's throne room after a violent fetch session with Cerberus.

"Hmm. For once you actually did a good job." Wizeman noted. "Cerberus is fit as ever."

Ralf's panting eased and he responded, "Thanks. But I thought you wanted us to give Cerberus a bath if we failed this time."

"Hey, you can do that too!" Wizeman realized happily. "Thanks for reminding me. I want Cerberus very clean for his battle against NiGHTS and the Visitor in Delight City."

The Nightmarens instantly glared at the scorpion 'maren. "RALF!"

Ralf curled up defensively. "Heh heh..." he chuckled nervously.

---

"Well, at least Delight City wasn't far away." Charles said, trying to be optimistic.

The others were more concerned about their health. After _attempting_ to wash Cerberus, the Nightmarens were worn out and nerve-wrecked. Not to mention that they got more water on themselves than the ferocious hellhound. But now they were settled down inside a large bush, big enough to hang the Joe Colony from one of its branches.

"Yeah, we might even be early for a change, dudes." said Fred, pointing his fin at something going on outside the bush.

The others peeked out to see what he was talking about. Looking up at the sky, they saw NiGHTS and Reala in the middle of a one-on-one battle. They saw NiGHTS grab one of those bomb things and throw it at Reala, who grunted and flailed for a second.

"Yeah! Go, NiGHTS, go! Kick Reala's--"

"_Shut up, Kenny!_" the others hissed.

Bob sighed and grumbled, "Looks like we won't be staying undercover for very long."

Just then, NiGHTS threw a final bomb at Reala and he went down for the count as "OWNED" flashed across the non-existant screen. The minor Nightmarens had to restrain Kenny from cheering at the top of his lungs.

The minor Nightmarens watched as Reala trapped NiGHTS in the NiGHTS Capture, say some things, and then fly away.

"Yeah, that's right, you jerk. Fly away like a coward and go cry to Wizeman!" Kenny mocked.

"All right, stop bashing Reala." Ralf told him. "We've got work to do."

The Joe Colony then spoke up, "Guys, the boy Visitor just came and Dualized with NiGHTS!"

Ralf adressed the others, "We'll let Cerberus try and take them down, first. If that doesn't work, we'll have one more chance to stay on Wizeman's good side."

Ted scoffed. "Are you kidding? We were _never_ on his good side. If you ask me, I think the boss is just trying to find ways to get us killed."

The others seemed to agree with his theory.

But Ralf was still determined. "That may be true, but if we succeed this time, he might change his mind about us! Come on, guys, just one more time! If we're gonna fail, we're gonna fail with style!"

"Yeah! Style!" the other 'marens cheered.

After a pause, Steve said, "So, any ideas?"

It took the time it took for NiGHTS and Will to defeat Cerberus the first time for them to come up with a plan.

"I know!" Kenny lit up.

"No, Kenny. We're not gonna kill Reala." Ralf said immediately.

Kenny giggled. "Not that! What if I gathered my Mothpit buddies and we raid the neon part of Delight City?"

"Dude, what good will that do?" Fred wanted to know.

"I'm not sure, by us moth-like Nightmarens just _love_ lights!"

Because the others couldn't think up of another plan, and because they didn't have time to, they just decided to go with Kenny's idea. So once Kenny rounded up his friends, they headed into the neon-lit streets. The nine remaining Nightmarens waited on top of one of the tallest buildings and watched the scene below. The Nightopians were scared of the 'marens and they fled from the area.

"All right, troops!" Kenny announced. "Today, we take a good look at," he gestured towards a neon sign, "lights."

"Yay!" cheered the other moth 'marens.

"BUT DON'T TOUCH THE LIGHTS." Kenny warned. "If you do, you will absolutely--"

"NiGHTS is coming!" one troop suddenly cried, flying towards the others. However, he didn't realized he was about to fly into a neon sign. "NiGHTS is com--AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" He fell to the ground.

"--burn and die." Kenny finished. The others look down at their fallen comrade. "So remember, what ever you do, _don't touch the lights_. And don't let NiGHTS attack you, either."

"What happens if she does?" a troop asked.

"Then attack back!"

"Oh yeah, we do this!" The same troop fired a beam at another troop, who instantly died. "Whoops."

"FOOL! You're supposed to do that to NiGHTS!" Kenny snapped. "Just disperse yourselves around the city and stay there!"

Charles commented to the others, "You know, Kenny wouldn't make such a bad leader."

"Hey, I do a better job at leading than Kenny could ever do!" Ralf snarled.

Ted whispered, "Shh! NiGHTS is already defeating some of Kenny's troops, and we don't want to be next!"

The nine minor Nightmarens watched in horror as NiGHTS took out one 'maren after another like something in a nature special. It was that scary.

Kenny noticed one of his buddies slowly moving closer to a neon light. "No! Don't go into the light!" he shouted.

In a trance, the Nightmaren responded, "I can't help it; it's so beautiful..." Before Kenny could stop him, he touched the light. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Burned, he fell to the ground in a ball.

"Oh boy..." Kenny groaned. He saw that he was the only one left, and NiGHTS was coming after him. "Aw, crap!" He realized that he was trapped by a dead end, so there was no where else to fly to.

"Come on, Kenny!" Steve encouraged. "Fight back!"

"Yeah, Kenny!" Charles added. "You can do it!"

The other started cheering as well, even Ralf.

Unfortunately, though, NiGHTS was smart enough to dodge the beam made by Kenny and she Touch-Dashed him into the wall. "Yes! We did it, Will! Now let's get you back to the Dream Gate so that Owl can talk to you some more!"

A look of terror flashed across Will's face, but he didn't get time to protest because NiGHTS began to fly away.

Once NiGHTS was out of sight, the minor Nightmarens went down to where Kenny had fallen. Apparently, he was just an orange ball, but they knew he would disappear before long.

"Dude! Are you ok?" Fred asked, picking what was left of Kenny up in his fins.

Kenny managed to reply, "...No."

"Gee, we're sorry this happened to you." Ralf said, not sounding too sad.

Kenny rasped, "Avenge...me..."

Bob said sadly, "But we're too weak to defeat NiGHTS."

"I was talking about Reala!"

"Oh. Sorry."

Bertha said, "But we're still too weak to defeat him. I'm sorry, Kenny."

"Well then...tell NiGHTS to defeat him for me..."

"Um, I'm not sure we can do that--" Johnson started.

"Johnson," Kenny croaked. "I hate you too."

"..."

"What? I'm dying, so I can be honest!" Kenny said indignantly.

Ted explained, "What Johnson meant to say was that even if we try to talk to NiGHTS, she'll kill us right away."

Kenny was silent for a moment, and everyone thought he had died. But then he said, "Shoot! Ok, never mind."

"Great. Now let's get outta here." Ralf said. "I hope Wizeman doesn't give us another Cerberus punishment again."

Fred dropped Kenny--

"Ow!"

--and he and the others followed Ralf back to the castle.

_Yeah, this chapter was a bit darker (and longer) than the others, but hopefully you weren't too disappointed that I killed Kenny._

_Johnson: You killed Kenny! You idiot!_

_Hey, be glad I didn't kill you!_

_Johnson: YOU KILLED KENNY!_

_Never mind. Just review._


	6. They All Fall Down

_Ok, here's the epilogue. I told you this was a short fic._

Epilogue: They All Fall Down

Wizeman glared in fury at the nine minor Nightmarens.

Ralf gulped and began, "We can explain."

"No, don't start." Wizeman growled. "Not only did you fail to stop NiGHTS, but you had several of your own killed in the process!"

"At least we failed with style, right?" Johnson said hopefully.

Wizeman charged up his hands and grumbled, "Any last words?"

Charles hesitated, then declared, "Kenny's last wish was for Reala to be killed."

"FAT CHANCE!" Wizeman shouted as he fired his lazers. Ralf, Bertha, Bob, Fred, Ted, the Joe Colony, Steve, Charles, and Johnson-- were dead.

Reala came into the room shortly after Wizeman killed the minor Nightmarens. "So you finally decided to kill them?"

"Yes, and to think that one of them wanted you to be killed." Wizeman responded.

"Like _that's_ ever gonna happen!" Reala laughed. He saw the stern look Wizeman was giving him and he trailed off his laughter. "Heh...right?"

"Well, you _are_ the best Nightmaren I have so far...yet I can give no guarantees. I'm giving you another chance to destroy NiGHTS. She is with the girl Visitor, who is about to enter Memory Forest."

Reala bowed. "I'm on it, Master. I won't fail you, this time." He turned and left the room.

Wizeman looked down at the piles of ashes floating around his room from the remains of the minor Nightmarens. "Great. Now who's going to clean this up?"

The End

_Well, that's the end! I'm sorry if you hate me for killing off the other Nightmarens. In a way, that's what I was going for. I not only wanted to make this fic show what could've happened in certain missions, but I also wanted to show the minor Nightmarens from a different perspective. But if you were glad that they died, then that's ok too. So...yeah, that's about all I wanted to say. Review, please! :D_


End file.
